Affordable Care Act getting more popular?

I wouldn't put too much stock in one poll, but the AP-GfK poll shows support for health-care reform rising from 39 percent in May to 45 percent in June, while opposition fell from 46 percent to 42 percent. There's no obvious reason this should've happened, so I'm inclined to treat it skeptically. But it's also worth noting that on Tuesday, Rep. Dave Camp tried to repeal the theoretically unpopular individual mandate, and his effort failed by 43 votes -- a much larger margin than the bill originally passed by. At this point it looks like Americans and their representatives are inclined to give this thing a chance.

Potentially, "Americans and their representatives are inclined to give this thing a chance" to implode of its own accord. The news reported last week in Wonkbook -- that Vermont, in addition to other states, simply had no funds to implement the PPACA and therefore intended to redirect the federal funds to other uses -- is an element of that self-collapse: likewise, Virginia and other states are simply foregoing the federal funds and thereby nullifying the federal regulations (the high-risk pool examples).

Couple those actions with the increased cost estimates released by the CMM, the proposed regulations leaked last week and reported in Saturday's WaPo ("if you like the plan you have you can keep it" [until September, when you'll have to change it]), the failure to enact the DocFix, the failure to enact a budget allocating the start-up costs repeatedly noted by the CBO, the failure to enact a fix to restore funding for the Federal Employee's Health Benefit Program, and the growing public awareness that the regulators now in charge of personal health choices are as qualified and dedicated as the regulators in charge of mining and minerals regulations...

So, refraining from advocacy of direct repeal may simply be a prudently lazy course of action: why spend the effort to repeal a statute which simply will not work?

The only real reason to advocate immediate repeal is financial -- repeal might help prevent American from following the path of the now-insolvent European health systems. As noted elsewhere in WaPo today, few folks are still calling for Greek- or or French-style health care systems: for that matter, most liberal propaganda outlets have refrained from noting that the French themselves have now decided to raise the retirement age in an effort to trim socialist entitlement costs.

"The only real reason to advocate immediate repeal is financial -- repeal might help prevent American from following the path of the now-insolvent European health systems. As noted elsewhere in WaPo today, few folks are still calling for Greek- or or French-style health care systems"

Actually if you read the graph in Ezra's next posting you'll find that financially we could save a lot of money by moving closer to European style systems. But why let facts and figures get in the way of talking points written by those who did nothing to restrain health care costs when they had a chance?

Considering the facts about HCR get worse by the day, I too would take that poll with a gain of salt. Yes 250 bribes in the mail will help a bit. The fact is every day the news about this bill gets worse and worse. Most recently, 51% of all private health plans WILL have to change to meet government regulations. In othere words, you CANT keep the health care you currently have. And as the plans change, yes they will get MORE expensive or even get dropped. If they get dropped, well guess what, GOVT EXCHANGE TIME. More people on the govt exchange means hight costs.